Vayeitzei 2024: Jacob's Boundaryless Blessing

There's very little that all human civilizations agree upon but looking at the mythic record universally humans believed they were made from the earth. The list of human civilizations which include myths of humanity being molded from some form of dirt is global. Obviously, the Torah teaches this as well:

וַיִּ֩יצֶר֩ יְהֹוָ֨ה אֱלֹהִ֜ים אֶת־הָֽאָדָ֗ם עָפָר֙ מִן־הָ֣אֲדָמָ֔ה

God formed the human from the humus of the earth. The humus, the thin layer of topsoil, is afar in Hebrew. This word is more often translated as dust.

In this week's Torah portion God reiterates the promise to Jacob that was made to Isaac and Abraham before. God promised Isaac and Abraham that their descendants shall possess the land upon which they wandered, but for Jacob it is modified greatly, saying: Your descendants shall be as the aphar of the earth; you shall spread out to the west and to the east, to the north and to the south. All the families of the earth shall bless themselves by you and your descendants.

The word aphar here, is the same word used in the creation of Adam. Again, it is most often translated as dust, but dust doesn't make sense in the context of the blessing. It could be that I've just spent too long living in prewar apartments in New York, but dust doesn't have a positive valence to me. To say your descendents will be like dust, sounds like a curse, not a blessing, and further, to say that their dustiness will be a blessing to all families of the earth, simply doesn't compute. To translate it as humus, the most fertile part of the soil, makes more sense. It is also the topmost layer that most easily moves. By this time in human history fertilizer was already in use. So, it's possible to read this blessing quite differently than one might assume based on the English translation. God is promising Jacob that his descendents will be spread out throughout the world as a blessing to all of the nations, just as fertilizer is spread across the fields to help them bear fruit.

I can not speak to the way that other human cultures may have valenced the earth they were made from but I can say in this instance the Torah is being specific for a reason. It teaches that all humanity is made from this substance, at the same time that it teaches us that humanity's role on the planet is to till and tend the earth - to aid in the abundance of nature. The descendants of Jacob, though, were assigned to fulfill a specific mode of this mission: to aid in the abundance of humanity.

We will not be packed earth settled in one place but instead be everywhere helping the people where we live to thrive.

We will not be settled in one land ascribed boundaries to delimit our identities but be blessings to people the world over through our presence amongst them, enriching them, just as one would spread humus to enrich soil elsewhere.

But how will we do this? The Talmud teaches that this iteration of the covenant that started with Abraham continued with Isaac, and found its ultimate expression in Jacob, and has ostensibly passed down to all Jews is rooted in Shabbat.

Rabbi Yohanan said: The reward for delighting in Shabbat is specifically the inheritance of Jacob. Not that of Abraham and Isaac, for whom the promise was bordered; There are no boundaries for Jacob's portion. Part of our blessing of all the families of the earth is then our delighting in Shabbat.

This is an incredible idea. Rabbi Yohanan here is saying that the boundarylessness of Shabbat is the key of the blessing of the Jacob's covenant. That we, bringing Shabbat throughout the world, are blessing all of the families of the earth with this Divine inheritance; that, in fact, abundance will come from rest.

I think this means a couple of things. One, it means that we are teaching those around us that sacred rest is necessary. The late capitalist drive towards endless work as the way to make one's life meaningful is inherently undermined by the importance of Shabbat, and the early capitalist drive in this country was actively impeded by Jewish activists who lobbied first, via an organization called the Sabbath Alliance, for a 6 day work week then for a more ecumenical 5 day work week as a way for both Jews and Christians to observe their Sabbaths.

These activists were embodying the blessing of Jacob here in America. May we here today continue doing the work of being a blessing wherever we are. May we take to heart the notion that the descendents of Jacob are a force for abundance throughout the world. And may we remember that sometimes it is Divine rest that is needed to find the boundarylessness of our inheritance.